The Long Black Veil
by ASlaveToWords
Summary: Kai is charged with a murder he didn't commit and he can't present an alibi because the secret it holds would virtually kill more then him. He has a choice: friendship or death? ...Is his secret powerful and important enough for him to take to the grave?


**A/N:** So here's my attempt at angst/tragedy. I hope you guys like it and I'm desperately hoping and praying I don't get murdered for this... -crosses fingers- Ahem.. anyways, enjoy and hopefully you won't go through too many boxes of tissues. :P

Oh, BTW; as some of you man know, I'm terrible at endings, especially serious ones. For that reason, I'm so sorry if you think the last few lines of this are lame... -sweatdrop- They probably are... -_-;

**Warning:** Mature themes, graphic descriptions and character death.... and I guess it's kinda AU too, considering you'd kinda have to place this way back in the past for it to really be plausible. In any case, use your imagination and again, please enjoy and R&R.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own BB or any of the characters.

* * *

  
Ten years ago, on a cold dark night someone was killed beneath the town hall light. There were few at the scene but they all agreed; the slayer who ran looked a lot like him.

Kai Hiwatari sat all alone in the darkness, crimson eyes starring through the bars out into the cloud darkened night as he awaited the inevitable.

He was going to die.

Kai knew he was innocent. He knew he was angry and sometimes a little violent, but there was no way he would ever be able to kill someone. But he also knew that it didn't matter. The few people who had witnessed the terrible crime had sworn the killer had looked just like him. And to put it bluntly; he knew he had a pretty distinctive profile.

The pale face turned to look boredly over his shoulder and locked onto the figure whom had just entered the room. Kai's expression was bored and indifferent as his eyes watched the familiar figure approach his cell, but inside a storm was brewing as crimson orbs locked on the still more familiar figure whom had just come through the door behind the first.

"This is insane!!" A second blunette exclaimed loudly as he watched Kai through the bars. "Are they all crazy?! You could never kill anyone!!"

"Go home, Tyson." Kai said tonelessly. Though his eyes were still locked on said young man's companion. Her eyes were dark as she starred back at him.

Completely oblivious to the look being exchanged under his nose, Tyson continued to rant.

"How can you be so calm?!" Tyson yelled loudly. "You've been sentenced to die at sunrise tomorrow unless you say something! Just tell them you were working with me or something! I'll back you up!"

Kai finally tore his gaze away from the crimson stare across him and locked them on chocolate brown instead.

"But I wasn't." He said simply.

"They don't know that!!"

Kai raised an eyebrow.

"With the way you're yelling, I'm sure they do now."

Tyson grabbed the bars of the cell door, his hands gripping the cold iron so tightly his knuckles began to turn white.

"You idiot!!!" He screamed loudly. "What the hell is wrong with you?! Just tell them where you were!! Who cares if it's degrading or embarrassing or whatever the reason is you're not saying anything!!! It's better then dying!!"

Kai frowned deeply and turned away from the other blunette.

"I'll be the judge of that." He said softly.

Tyson's companion frowned too and her body tensed but she said nothing. Beside her Tyson continued, neither hearing nor caring about Kai's comment.

"KAI!! Don't be stupid! If you don't say something, I will! I'll make up an excuse for you!"

"And I'll deny it." Kai said bluntly, starring back out through the barred window again.

Tyson looked ready to pull his hair out.

"ARG!! I can't believe I'm hearing this!! Have you gone completely insane?!"

Finally Tyson turned on his wife and gave her a heated stare.

"Say something, Hilary!!" He yelled heatedly, his chest heaving as he spoke. "You're supposed to be the one who can convince a nun to do a strip tease! Tell him to confess!!"

Hilary stepped up from the shadows and Kai found himself unable to resist turning his head again to look at her.

"Just do it." She almost whispered.

Kai starred at her, both speaking volumes with their silence.

Tyson waited for his wife to say something else but when he realized she wasn't going to, his fists clenched angrily at his sides.

"That's not convincing at all!!" He yelled furiously. "What the hell is wrong with you two?!"

Kai clenched his teeth as he ignored Tyson and starred into the crimson eyes across from him again. It killed him worse then any death sentence ever could that reflected in her eyes were all the scarring and tortuous emotions that he felt inside.

Pain, sympathy, sadness.

_Guilt._

But not regret. Never regret. He could never regret what he'd done.

Kai closed his eyes and turned away, the assault of emotion he was too proud to allow to surface over-powering him.

"I deserve to hang for what I did." He whispered painfully.

The blunette cringed as powerful images flashed across his closed lids and the emotions he was feeling increased tenfold to the point where they were almost unbearable.

Outside the cell Hilary felt the proverbial knife in her chest twist. Beside her however, Tyson's jaw was nearly to the floor.

"You're not serious?!" He gasped in disbelief, taking Kai's words quite the wrong way. "You didn't seriously kill that guy? You didn't... you couldn't...."

The younger blunette stopped, completely at a loss for words now. Finally he closed his mouth and bit his lip.

"I'm sure you did it for a good reason..." He said softly now. Still Kai didn't look at him as he spoke again.

"What I call good reason and what someone else calls it is completely different. Like I said; I deserve to hang...."

Tyson starred at the older young man in the cell for a long time until finally he bowed his head to hide his misty eyes.

"I wish I could convince you to change your mind..." Tyson whispered softly. "I know you're not a bad person, Kai... and whatever it is you think you deserve... you're wrong. I just want you to know that you're my best friend, man. You always were and you always will be. I appreciate everything you've ever done for me...B-.... bye."

That said the brown-eyed young man turned on his heels and swiftly left the room.

Hilary starred at the back of the cell occupant's head for a few moments before finally gathering up enough courage to speak.

"You don't have to do this..." She said softly.

Kai frowned as he starred out the window, refusing to turn and look at her.

"Yes I do." He said simply. "This is payback for what I've done. And I deserve it."

Hilary resisted a sigh at the words she was sick of hearing. Bowing her head as Tyson had, she closed her eyes to fight back the wetness in them.

"I'm so sorry..." She whispered, not entirely sure to whom she was apologising to.

After a long pause, Kai swallowed hard and spoke again, still not looking at the brunette behind him.

"Go..." He whispered softly, his voice cracking slightly.

Hilary's breath hitched as a rebel sob escaped her.

"I love you, Kai..." She choked painfully, barely audible.

Kai cringed and his eyes clenched shut as he heard the door outside the cell open and shut. Those last spoken words cut him deeper then any knife or rope ever could -- and for more reasons then one.

_"I love you, Kai....."_ Those words haunted him because they shouldn't be meant for him. But it was when a second set of words rang through his mind that a sob of his own escaped him and a pair of rebel tears escaped Kai's closed eyes.

_"I know you're not a bad person, Kai... I just want you to know that you're my best friend, man. You always were and you always will be. I appreciate eveything you've ever done for me..."_

Kai's hands lifted to bury his face into them as his body shook with silent sobs.

"I'm so sorry, Tyson...."

* * *

"Son, do you have anything to say for yourself? All we need is one alibi and you'll be saved from death row."

Kai's face was expressionless as the judge spoke and he remained silent when the judge was finished. He hadn't killed anyone and he knew that if he were to live a long and healthy life, he never would. But that didn't mean he was going to allow himself to walk away from this. Kai swallowed as he remembered just where he was the night of the murder.

-----

Soft, gentle, warm hands.... Tender, passionate kisses all over his body.... Sensual, tantalizing caresses on the most precious and intimate parts of him.....

It was enough to drive a man insane!

Kai moaned softly as Hilary's lips pressed themselves to his neck and her soft and gentle fingers roamed over places they technically had no right caressing.

"You're so beautiful...." She had whispered against his sensitive flesh.

Kai bit his lip as his hands around her waist tightened.

"Tell me this means something to you.... tell me I'm not committing this terrible act just for some heated fling.... please tell me this is worth it, Kai..."

Kai's breath hitched as she gently nibbled at his sweet spot and allowed her hands to roam and caress again. Splotches of color flashed across his field of view as the brunette teased and pleased him.

"I can't tell you anything if you keep doing that..." Kai growled huskily.

Hilary's face pulled back from his neck with a cute blush and her hands slid up his body to wrap around his neck as she starred down at him. Kai had to resist the urge to grab her and kiss her senseless. Gods she was beautiful!

"Please..." Hilary whispered again.

Kai's heart fluttered sickeningly and his eyes slid shut a little as a hot wave washed over him at the adorable way she was biting her lip. Reaching up, the blunette gently placed a hand on the side of her face and lightly caressed her jawbone.

"You're not the only one committing a terrible injustice here....." Kai whispered softly. "I'm sleeping with my best friend's wife...... do you really think I'd have the guts and will to do that if this was nothing more then some fling to me?"

Hilary's eyes misted over but a ghost of a smile graced her face nonetheless.

"That's all I needed to hear...." She whispered softly. She then cupped Kai's face and leaned down to press a tender kiss to his lips.

Kai moaned softly again and wrapped his arms around the brunette's back, pulling her impossibly close to him as he deepened the kiss hungrily. The nagging and sickeningly guilty feeling was once more suppressed as he devoured the lips pressed to his. In that moment, just like all the ones before it, Kai was in heaven...

-----

Kai had to swallow bile as the memories resurfaced. He knew those moments of passion were his one-way ticket to hell, but he didn't think the train would be arriving so quickly.

Noting Kai's silence, the judge frowned.

"Very well then." He said solemnly. "It is with great regret that I hearby sentence Kai Hiwatari to hang by the neck until dead. Case adjourned."

Kai didn't fight or resist at all as he was handcuffed and lead from the room. On his way past the crowd, his eyes briefly met with another pair of crimson orbs. The face they belonged to was as expression and emotionless as his but the eyes gave her away. Said eyes were windows to the storm inside and the blunette had to tear his gaze away from them to prevent himself from allowing his resolve to deteriorate.

He'd made up his mind, he was going through with it. He deserved to rot in hell for what he did to Tyson, and there was no way he was going to take it back now.

* * *

Kai starred straight ahead of him as the rope was placed around his neck. His eyes were starring over the crowd as he awaited the eternal darkness. There were many in the crowd who anticipated his death, believing him to be the murderer he had been sentenced as. But there were also those who's hearts were breaking over the fact.

Crimson eyes unconsciously lowered and instantly locked on two such people. Tyson's warm, brown eyes were misty and slightly red around the edges. His face displayed all the emotion Kai knew he didn't deserve as the younger blunette starred up at him with a deep, pained frown. Rolling over to the side, Kai's eyes locked on a familiar crimson gaze that was so alike and yet so different from his own. Unlike the night before and at the trial, Hilary's eyes and expression were as void of emotion as the cold and dead eyes of a corpse. Not a tear was present in those crimson orbs and Kai knew there wouldn't be; and for this he was silently grateful.

Kai's eyes lifted from the crowd once more as the rope around his neck was checked and adjusted. Once everything was set, Kai closed his eyes as the final words were said. He made a face at the preachers last words before blocking everything out and picturing the one thing that would make him relax -- the one thing that had gotten him into the mess in the first place.

_"I love you too Hilary..."_

"May God have mercy on your soul."

* * *

Hilary jolted as the trap door beneath Kai's feet gave way, and tears instantly flooded her eyes as she watched the young man's body twitch and jolt animatedly. The scene was like some sick and horrifying nightmare and she knew it would scar her mind and haunt her until the day she died. Kai would never leave her, he was her ghost now and she was to live with his shadow until the dog-years passed and she eventually died -- for she knew that her life would be long, it was her punishment for allowing such a thing to happen. She would live day by day wishing, hoping, and praying for death. But it wouldn't come, she knew that. And though she hated to admit it, she knew she deserved it.

Hilary's heart stopped and her stomach churned sickeningly to the point where she felt she was going to lose it's contents. The scene of Kai's body jolting and jumping while his face and neck turned every shade of purple and blue was indescribable. She tasted the bile in her mouth as she starred on, wanting desperately to tear her gaze away but finding it glued to the horrific and sickening scene before her. Her body shook and her jaw trembled but still she couldn't look away. Not a blink interrupted her gaze and crimson eyes burned with pain that had nothing to do with the lengthy exposure of her eyes. The image was forever scarred in her minds eye, and as a shaky hand reached up to the projected pain in her neck, pain caused by a mix of guilt and paranoia, Hilary knew that the image was one that would follow her to the grave.

_"What have I done...?" _The brunette thought in crazed despair.

She didn't even realize her eyes were streaming until she felt a hand grasp hers. Looking to her left, Hilary saw a blue and tan-colored blur through her darkness and instantly broke down in a fit of sobs.

Tyson wrapped his arms around his wife and hugged her tightly as she collapsed into his arms. He closed his eyes as silent tears leaked out from under his lids as well.

"I'm so sorry...." He whispered guiltily. "You're not good with these things.. and to think that you knew him.... I.. I never should have let you come...."

Not trusting herself to speak, Hilary buried her face into Tyson's chest and clung tightly to his shirt. She was over-come with guilt and misery and her body was growing weak from it. She had committed an unspeakable act against her husband and Kai had payed for it...

It was all her fault...

_"I should be the one up there... not him."_ She thought miserably.

Tyson caught Hilary just as her legs gave out and hoisted her into his arms before pressing a tender, watery kiss to her temple.

"Shhhhh, love..." He cooed softly. "It's alright... I'm taking you home now... It'll be alright...."

Hilary lifted her head slightly to look over Tyson's shoulder as he indeed carried her away from the horrifying scene. The sight of Kai's swollen and mutilated body slowly rotating like some sick, perverse nightmare made her wretch and her sobs became choked for a few moments before her head began to spin and finally the darkness claimed her.

* * *

A mixed bouquet of black and red roses rested perfectly on freshly turned soil as cold and dead eyes starred through the near-darkness at the picture on the tombstone above it. Every week a new bouquet was placed upon the grave and every night the same cold, crimson eyes starred down onto it with the same dead expression. It was the only time and place where said eyes didn't have to hide and pretend to display emotion they no longer knew how to hold. It was the only time Hilary was truly happy anymore.

"It's your birthday today...." The brunette said softly. "What can I do for you...? Tyson is asleep, so it's just you and me; just like it used to be, remember?"

The brunette's eyes didn't blink as she starred at the toombstone as if it were indeed the person whose name was scrawled upon it.

"No, silly! Not here!" The brunette giggled happily. "Later, back in my room... where we'll be all alone."

The brunette winked at the face before her before giggling again and turning her face upwards to look absently up at the stars.

"I live for these moments, you know? I always did... moments I spend with you. They always were the happiest times in my life...."

Hilary sighed slightly.

"Yes, I know, you're right, my love, as always; I should be going. Tyson will be wondering where I am. And we can't have him suspicious can we? After all the hiding and careful planning we've taken."

The brunette knelt down onto the grave and leaned forward, slowly slipping her arms around the cold, hard stone before her. But the cold hardness didn't register as her head dipped down and pressed a lingering kiss to the face on the tomb.

"I love you...." She whispered as one hand moved to the front to caress the handsome face she'd just kissed. "I always will... Until tomorrow, my love.. wait for me."

The brunette stood up, not bothering to dust herself off, and slowly backed away as her eyes sparkled while they lingered on the image before her, her real-life image of her forbidden lover.

"Until tomorrow, my love.." She whispered again.

Biting her lip flirtatiously, her mind not really registering that Kai wasn't responding to her, and fully believing that he was actually there, the brunette blew him a silent kiss before finally turning and walking away. Her long, black veil fluttered behind her as the cold harsh wind blew it backwards like an eerie hand stretched towards the face she was leaving behind. But the brunette didn't register the elements as her body was aglow with the warmth of her thoughts -- thoughts of her and her forbidden lover later....

All around her, again unregistered by the brunette, eerie and haunting voices sang the tragic tale among the harsh winds of the night.

_"She walks these hills in a long black veil.. She visits his grave when the night winds wail...."_

Among the voices, unheard by the brunette they were singing about, one voice stood out among them as ghostly crimson eyes looked down at his crazed lover with a heavy heart, knowing he'd hold her again one day, one day when eternity eventually ended and fate finally took pity on them...

_"Nobody knows... nobody sees... nobody knows but me....."_


End file.
